It is time for a change. That last commute to work was one commute too many, and as you sit at your desk, your dread of the journey home is already building.

You’re ready to start telecommuting. You’ve got all the necessary video conferencing and office workflow equipment you need at home. You deal with clients exclusively through remote communications anyway, and there’s always someone calling in from another branch office whenever you have a team meeting.

Working from home means you’ll be happier, healthier, have a better work/life balance, and will recoup those hours of lost travel time, but what’s in it for the company? Why should your supervisor let you out of the building and trust you to perform your job from home?

How to Ask to Work from Home

Your boss is not a machine. What you need is a series of valid reasons to prove that telecommuting is good for your company. So here they are. Six ways to convince your company that telecommuting is good business, beginning with Video Conferencing.

1. My workstation won’t Cost You a Penny

The fewer demands you make on your employer, the more likely they are to support your decision. So make sure you let your boss know they won’t be on the hook for any expenses involved in setting up your new home office.

For remote workers in most professions, all it takes is a quiet corner, a personal computer, a quality webcam, and an internet connection and you’re set to succeed. The most expensive piece of that technological puzzle is your webcam, and you can get a state-of-the-art, 4K-capable, facial recognition-equipped camera for just a few hundred dollars.

Chances are, you can also keep up with all your meetings by using the same video conferencing vendor and account you’re already hooked up with at work.

2. Telecommuting Will Save Us Money

Some of the biggest companies in the world have been using telecommuting to save themselves millions of dollars. A smaller onsite workforce needs less space, fewer facilities, less equipment, and less coffee and donuts in the office breakroom.

Moreover, telecommuting staff cost less to maintain as they are generally happier and healthier and so take fewer sick days, less annual leave, and stay in the job longer, reducing the cost of hiring and training replacements.

3. It will be Productive 

Having a better work/life balance makes employees more likely to clock in for work each day. Research has shown, in fact, that remote employees are happier than their onsite colleagues (which alone leads to greater productivity), put in an average of five more hours of work per week, and are as much as 40 percent more productive. That’s not to mention that remote employees are more likely to telework while mildly sick rather than taking a sick day in order to get comfy at home. And, the health benefits of working from home mean that remote employees are less likely to get sick in the first place.

4. I’d Prefer Telecommuting Over a Pay Raise

No one wants less money, but if you consider the amount you spend on commuting every day and the related costs of spending so much time away from home, there are counterbalancing savings to be had–how many paid lunches would you shell out for if you had your personal fridge at your disposal?

There’s an obvious benefit here for your employer, and you’d be far from the first person to suggest such an exchange. Recent research found 36 percent of workers would prefer a work from home option over a pay raise. In fact, a poll of technology workers found that a similar percentage–37 percent–were actually willing to take a ten percent pay cut for the chance to work from home. Those are some serious savings for any company willing to set some of its workers loose to work remotely–and, if you’re willing to forgo your annual pay review, that alone could be a very persuasive argument for your employer.

5. It’s Great for the Environment…Which Is Great for Our Reputation

Green is the new black. The workforce is getting younger and younger each year as millennials rise up the corporate ladder and Generation Z starts to enter the equation. One thing we know about these emerging generations is they care about the environment more than their predecessors. So, if a business wants to attract the right workers and the right customers, they need to show they care about sustainability.

Telecommuting is one of the greenest initiatives a business can undertake. There are a host of environmental advantages to taking commuters’ cars off the roads, reducing power consumption at the office, and decongesting our cities.

6. Everyone Else Is Doing It

In the end, you’re not actually suggesting anything outrageous by asking to work remotely. more than 50 percent of worldwide employees work from home at least half the week. Telecommuting is quickly becoming the new normal.

The digital revolution began long ago, and if your employer is not using this new hybrid of communication and travel to maximize their employees’ work/life balance and productivity, they are behind the times.

Source: https://www.videoconferencingdaily.com/